The Mutation Wave

Chapter 18: The Second Wave (Season 2 Premiere)

Two weeks passed by quickly without much activity. Well, almost.

A small celebration was held when the soldiers of the settlement returned with more supplies and weapons from an abandoned military outpost. Masako was also invited to say a few words. After all, it was she who had retrieved the key to unlock the doors of the base. She declined the offer with an excuse to look after William, even though he was already in a stable condition.

William had awakened but still remained in the medical bay since no one else was occupying the beds. He would stare off into a distance during his waking hours, but still spent most of the time asleep. Masako visited him almost everyday, although all they did was space out with the same hollow look in their eyes. Victor on the other hand, busied himself with more work, making increasingly frequent trips out of the settlement.

Their paths rarely crossed as both went about their daily routine and even if they did, they barely exchanged words other than the occasional nod. Though unsettling, everyone was relieved for the much needed peace.

~ ~ ~

The evening sun casted a long shadow of a figure slowly descending from the sky. He lifted a hand over his eyes, shielding them from the glare of the setting sun as he walked towards a destroyed town. It was one hell of a disposal job, but this should be the last batch of concrete he needed to clear.

Victor scrunched his face and raised his hands. A loud rumbling shook the ground as rubble started floating up from the floor. He swung his hands to the side and the rubble followed suit, soaring through the air out of view like a flock of giant concrete birds. Victor inspected the streets littered with gore and crushed bodies. It was enough to make the average man retch, but he ignored them; he was here to confirm something else.

And he had just found it.

Victor walked cautiously towards a hole in the ground barely covered by a melted drain cover. He took a few steps back and violently clawed the air with both hands. A large chunk of ground ripped itself out, revealing an empty space below. Victor walked forward and looked over the edge. A long train track spanned beneath the ground; its well oiled surface indicating that it was not just an abandoned railway track. So I wasn't imagining things; a train did pass by underground that night.

Victor could practically smell the giant lump of metal that lay ahead of him. He raised a hand almost unconsciously, and images flashed through his mind intermittently like a glitched out video.

I've lifted this before...? When? Victor fell to one knee, his head throbbing as he racked his brain to relive the abnormally strong sense of Deja Vu. He stared at what remained of the crashed ship, realising there was a gaping cavity in his memories. No point trying to recall it now. Victor's attention drifted back to the yawning hole in the ground.

A large part of him wanted to jump in and see where the tracks led; to try and jolt his memory, but he decided against it. There was no telling what waited for him at the end, and he was not about to risk his life trying to find out. Not all by himself, at least.

The geokinetic man mentally pushed against the ground, feeling the weightlessness once more as he floated up and soared back to his home.

~ ~ ~

Meanwhile, back at the settlement...

Masako stared blankly at her dinner plate. Fish and spinach again. She was in no place to complain, considering her living conditions were much better compared to most of the world. But she really was in no mood to eat, and having the same tasteless thing for her dinner five days in a row was not helping.